When I began my life of daily carry almost 30 years ago, I carried what was approved and available. My respect of the .45 ACP round goes this far back, as that is when I chose to purchase a single stack .45 ACP as the handgun which would reside in my holster. I actually opted out of the .357 revolver that was department issued at the time.

I am often asked by family and friends, to recommend or suggest a first firearm. And while I am honored and privileged to be trusted enough to be helping, I usually respond by asking, “What are you going to be doing with the gun?” The reasons for my question are several. And that usually provokes some soul-searching and additional thought by the person I'm helping.

Somewhere, some time ago I read or was told “Everything in moderation, nothing in excess”. The statement and its underlying sentiment has been something that has stuck with me for years, even if I didn’t always apply this principle in real life. The basic concept I get from that statement is balance.

Everything can and should have balance and recently I found myself once again contemplating the idea of balance as it relates to carry guns.

Compact and sub-compact pistols make for great everyday-carry (EDC) handguns. Some are small enough that they can fit in your pocket with no visible signs. They can also be fun on the range, but the specialty of these small handguns is concealability.

With that in mind, here are a few things to look for in a sub-compact pistol.

When it comes to personal protection against an active threat, having a defensive action plan is not a luxury but a necessity. The advantage of such a plan is:

You’re not waiting around to be caught in the middle of an attack

You are not forced to come up with a solution on the fly

You have a widened scope of awareness prior to an attack

Your intent should always be to predict or prevent your involvement in any violent physical threat. However, if you have no choice but to engage a threat, you must consider your response options based on realistic expectations.

Springfield Armory® recommends you seek qualified and competent training from a certified instructor prior to handling any firearm and be sure to read your owner’s manual. These articles are considered to be suggestions and not recommendations from Springfield Armory®.